When starting this event, I knew I had to do it justice, down to the smallest details. My family was divided into four teams and after the "opening ceremonies" raced around my property, the park across the street and the fire department next door looking for clues and completing challenges. Everything from searching through wine bottles, completing puzzles and digging through bowls of macaroni without using your hands was included. I had road blocks, detours and clues found by GPS coordinates. One of my favorite clues was having my cousin who was in France at the time record a video message as a surprise to kick off the race. (Had a few people in tears after that one!)
Although I would say it went off successfully and everyone had a great time, I definitely learned a lot from the experience, here are just a few items from a longer list:
1. The importance of training those volunteering/working at events, preparing them for what is to come and ensuring they will follow direction.
In my case, this was my parents. The morning of the event I had to explain to them the path they would take as I required them to move from station to station as the teams passed through them. It was last minute and this caused some confusion and improvisation that led to some teams feeling others received an advantage. It's important direction is clear and given in enough time to allow for processing and answering of any questions. Great event staff and volunteers can often make or break an event!
2. The importance of clear communication with those attending your event.
Although I was just preparing this event for my family, I still discovered I could have done more to make the "rules" and expectations crystal clear. I discovered it is better to push to the limit of over clarifying and simplifying just to be sure people don't become lost while participating in your event causing them to become frustrated. You want people to enjoy your event through and through so anticipate potential areas for misunderstanding ahead of time.
3. Staff events appropriately.
As mentioned above to run the event it was only myself and my parents, which was not an adequate number of people. Had I thought ahead I would have planned to bring in some more resources (I used to babysit enough kids in town after all!) to ensure that the event will run smoothly and as intended.
4. Get feedback. ALWAYS!
At the time my family may have thought it was strange that I was walking around asking what they liked and didn't like, but even for a personal event this information was super useful! In doing so I came to realize how differently people interpret information. Which leads me to one of my final learning points:
5. A second set of eyes should always be required.
Due to the fact that what you understand can be so different from someone else's interpretation share what you are working on with others (or share as much of it as you can). This will always help events run smoother as any uncertainty can be taken care of.
I know this is not anything new, but as I was starting out this was all very important information to learn and remember. And if you are looking to plan any kind of event for your family or friends, I'm very willing to give advice or look anything over! :)
Happy Planning!
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